University of Pennsylvania. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

This project, called the Gorgas Mill Complex Project here because that was the name the project leader, Jeff Kenyon, used (though it was generally known as the Monastery Project), was an excavation carried out during the summer of 1974 at the site of a mill on the Wissahickon creek near Kitchens Lane in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The project was conceived and led by Jeff Kenyon, the director of the education department at the Penn Museum (then called "The University Museum"), as well as a doctoral student in the American Civilization department of the University of Pennsylvania. Kenyon initiated this project not only to excavate the site and find physical evidence to support the information known from historical documents, but also to provide a summer course for high school students that would give them hands-on experience in the field of archaeology. Kenyon had led a similar, though smaller, project in 1972 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, involving eleven students who worked only on Saturdays.

To facilitate the integration of education and historical archaeology, Kenyon set up two courses, the first from June 17 to July 19, the second from July 22 to August 23, with each course accommodating up to 30 students. The students learned how to dig test trenches, catalogue artifacts, and other rudiments of archaeology, under the close supervision of Kenyon and his staff.

While the students made up the bulk of the project team, Kenyon hired a small staff consisting of a Naturalist-Ecologist, Stanley Hunter, a Laboratory-analytical Archaeologist, Betty Cosans, and, as field supervisor Bill Schauffler. By hiring these specialists, Kenyon hoped to bring a multi-disciplinary approach to the project, and to give students a broader understanding of the relationship between archaeology and other disciplines.

The project was named after the site, which was termed “The Monastery” probably because the earliest known owner of the mill, John Gorgas, had been affiliated with the Church of the Brethren. In reality the site had no religious affiliations, and had been the spot of a mill from the mid 1700’s to the late 1800’s. The excavations was therefore called the "Gorgas Mill Complex" after the family that owned the land for many generations. Besides the house, which still stands, there had been several buildings related to the milling operations which were torn down in the 19th century, and the remains of which were mostly buried underground. The excavation covered five structures along the Wissahickon creek, a portion of the yard near the house and one building near the house.

While the excavation did not yield a large number of artifacts, it did uncover evidence of many of the structures, below ground. In the yard north-east of the house, parts of a garden wall were excavated and hypothesized to have been made from a re-used building wall. A springhouse was uncovered, cleared of debris, and mapped. An unidentified structure next to a small stream flowing into the Wissahickon was excavated to a great extent, and evidence was found suggesting that the structure may have been a saw mill, with a possible mill race site next to the stream. There was also evidence of blacksmithing in another corner, which may point to other interpretations. Both the head and tail race of the main water wheel were excavated to provide a cross section of the mill race and the walls of the race were uncovered. The excavation of the water wheel housing revealed large bolts in the floor which may have been used to support a bearing for the axle of the wheel. Also the creek-side wall was found to be a re-used apple press base.

This project served as the subject for Kenyon’s dissertation in American Civilization, which he wrote in partial fulfillment of the requirements for his doctoral degree.

From the guide to the Gorgas Mill Complex records, Bulk, 1974, 1964-1976, (University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives)